Coffee With Strangers

This week we're at Urban Hang Suite to celebrate Kelli and team on the two year anniversary of UHS. Through getting started to a global pandemic and racial protests and riots outside their front door, UHS has stayed open and more importantly, solidified itself as more than an a coffee shop.

This week we're catching up with CWS alum AnnMarie Grohs. AnnMarie was one of the first true strangers we had on the show. Back in 2015 Boho Studios had been open for about 18 months and had only one location. See what's changed in that time and how the pandemic has had an impact.

Kelli's at Urban Hang Suite to grab drinks with artist Hamilton Glass. Ham's art has already graced some notable buildings in Richmond, now his Mending Walls project is putting artists together to do the same while tackling the civil injustices of our time. Season 11 is presented by Chesapeake Bank memberfdic

After stints in the NFL and a successful career in the Arena Football League, including a 2005 American Bowl championship with the Richmond Bandits, Nate Daniels decided to put roots down in Richmond and begin working with the next generation of professional athletes.

Kelli's in Shockoe Bottom and along the James River to experience notable points in the River's contributions to Richmond's history as well as visit with Justin Doyle from the James River Association on the health of the River and how it impacts our city.

This week we're catching up with CWS alum Melody Short. We had Melody on the show back in June of 2017 and, wow, a lot has changed for her since then. She's launched the Richmond Night Market and recently launched the Jackson Ward Collective with Rasheeda Creighton and Kelli. Despite the change in careers over the three years, her commitment to serving her community has remained central to who she is and what she does.

Kelli's at Triple Crossing downtown to grab drinks with Eric Jackson. Originally from Portsmouth, Eric's been in Richmond just over two years and already had an impact on the craft beer scene and been central to sharing the Black message among the craft beer industry.

Looking for something more relevant to offer her students for summer reading, Melissa Face, a teacher and writer, assigned The Hate U Give. The parallels between Angie Thomas' 2017 fictional book and present day Richmond though are clear.

Kelli's in Jackson Ward to visit the area where Bill "Bojangles" Robinson grew up, check out The Jefferson Hotel where he was discovered, and visit his monument in Jackson Ward celebrating his life.

Kelli and Matt are back at Marcus-David Peters Circle to visit with past guest Ashley Hawkins of Studio Two Three to hear what they're doing to re-contextualize Monument Ave.